


You've Been Quiet

by athenril_of_kirkwall (al_fletcher)



Series: Aether Effect [5]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Dragon Age Drunk Writing Circle, F/M, Prompt Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 00:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17192669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/al_fletcher/pseuds/athenril_of_kirkwall
Summary: Post-Revelations.Cassandra Pentaghast once loved the man known as Blackwall, up until the truth behind Thom Rainier was revealed.





	You've Been Quiet

Of all the times, he had to try this in the Fallow Mire, where words hung in air which stood still and there was little else to hear besides insects chirping and occasional birdsong.

“You’ve been quiet,” he said, thinking the Inquisitor and Solas out of earshot, but not Cassandra.

The realisation he was talking to _her_ took a few steps to sink in, and she stopped after them, turning only her head to face him.

“I was unaware we had anything left to discuss.”

He idly planted the tip of his broadsword into the ground. “Is that how it is, then?”

“I have said everything I wished to say, _Rainier_ ”, the name – his true name – falling from her lips like poison, “and I do not want to hear any more of your lies.”

Nodding, he said, “I understand.”

Now she was angry, turning around to completely face him, drawing herself up to her full height of just half a head shorter than the man who had till recently masqueraded as the Grey Warden Gordon Blackwall.

“You…understand?”, she asked, eyes narrowing and nostrils flaring in the exact mannerism of a bronto about to charge.

So sudden had her turn been that he was completely stunned, unable to give any reply. That wasn’t stopping the Lady Seeker.

“You _understand_ how much of a fool I must have been, letting the Inquisition put its faith in a sham,” she spat, “and then not only letting you spin your stories of chivalry and sacrifice, but listening to them and thinking they meant anything? Is that what you _understand_?”

“Don’t you think that I haven’t already thought all of these things?” he retorted, saying, “Don’t you think that I haven’t run though all of…”

She interrupted him, saying, “Perhaps the problem is that you should have spent more time telling _other people_ these things instead of keeping them to yourself in silent suffering. Had you considered that?”

“You’re right, I…”

There was no indication that she was going to relent. “We are at war with an ancient magister commanding an _archdemon_ , bringing us the Sixth Blight so soon on the heels of the Fifth, and you have the gall to pretend that you can slay both or either?! Leliana let me read her report on the utter garbage you told Rivka about the Wardens and how they operated. You _dared_ give us all hope that you could…you could…”

Cassandra was on the brink of tears, as though a dam on the mighty torrent of her emotions was about to burst. Breaking down into incoherent anger, she gave him a furious shove he felt through his heavy plate armour, and while he was recoiling from the shock, he spotted her open palm just quickly enough to catch it by the wrist, pressing her vein to her bone.

Staring at his clenched fingers, Cassandra said, “Get your hand off me, Rainier.”

“Not unless you swear you’re not going to hit me.”

“It would be the _least_ you deserve,” she said, tensing the strength of her arm against his.

In response to her continuing defiance, he tightened his grip, and she bit her lip as she struggled to give him any indication of his power over her. “You’re hurting me.”

“I’ll keep it up unless you stop trying to hit me.”

After several seconds of silent struggle, she released the tension in her arm, his grip loosening in the exact same second.

Massaging her wrist, Cassandra said, “Ah. I think for the first time I broke through to the _real_ Thom Rainier. A cruel man who inflicts pain for his own satisfaction, so ready to lord his strength over others. Tell me, _convict_ , how many others have you hurt this way? How many times did you take pleasure from it?”

“This is unworthy of you, Lady Seeker,” he huffed, gently crossing his arms.

“But not _you_. You wish to talk? We are talking now. I regret that as much as every decision I have made based on your charms. I regret ever falling in love with you, or the idea of you. Of everyone I blame myself the most. I blame my desperation for solace in this crisis and reaching out to the first indication that some men held the same ideals they propound so much. I blame myself for needing a Warden to ride in to save the world from destruction, when they, and you, were as susceptible to foolishness and deception as anyone else.”

Of all the things which Cassandra had said that night, only one was enough to give him pause. “…You _loved_ me?”

Taking a moment to realise what he had fixated on, she said, “Yes. I cannot deny the past as you have, Rainier. The weeks we have spent in Skyhold had brought me hope and joy beyond expectation, until the revelation that it was all built upon lies. Your lies.”

“I’m…I’m sorry,” he said.

“I loved the man I thought you were. Even if you loved me, let this be an end to it. Let your judgement come when you are sent to the Wardens at Weisshaupt. I will never forget you, Thom Rainier, but I will never forgive you, nor remember you with fondness. Let us return to proceeding in silence since talking has brought us nothing but grief tonight.”

“…Yes,” he said, as though that was all he could manage.

The two warriors stood opposite each other, gazing down at the ground between them. There was nothing more that would be, or could be, said. It was no small relief when Rivka returned with Solas, the two elves having finished their reconnaissance of the next closest rift in the Fallow Mire.

“Are you two ready to head out?” the Inquisitor asked.

“Yes, Inquisitor.” “Yes, my lady.”

“Good,” Rivka said, “I’ll just replenish my supplies and we’ll go. Solas?”

“Mhmm? Yes, vhenan,” the elvhen mage said, following her to the base camp’s supply depot.

Leaving the two warriors behind, Rivka turned to ask Solas, “Do you think it worked?”

“They appear as committed to stolid silence as before, vhenan. It’s difficult to say.”

“Still, they needed the opportunity, didn’t they?”

Solas nodded. “Yes. This ordeal has been hardest going for Cassandra. Avoidance evidently was not helpful. I hope they have had some time to settle things between themselves.”

“Good,” Rivka said, “Good. Imagine, thinking you’d found something, someone to believe in, and having all that taken away in a moment…it’s remarkable how she’s holding up. I don’t know if I could take it as well as she could.”

Solas had no answer to that, simply staring at the moons over the horizon.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: https://athenril-of-kirkwall.tumblr.com/post/181504940110/


End file.
